Time to get behind Mill Center

Published: Wednesday, October 26, 2005 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, October 26, 2005 at 12:00 a.m.

In a meeting last week, the Hendersonville City Council heard from the executive director and chairwoman of the Mill Center for the Arts and from the architect who designed the proposed structure.

The council received a brief history of how we reached this point, that is, near the launch of a $22 million capital campaign. Construction would begin in early 2007.

Construction, the council was told, must begin with demolition. Brian Healy, the Boston architect chosen in a juried national competition, told the council members that no matter how many times he studied the old Grey Hosiery Mill, he could figure no way, without extravagant spending, to transform it into a performing arts auditorium, art gallery or children's museum.

With regret, the council members said that, yes, they would allow the Mill Center to raze the old mill. (All but Barbara Volk were present.) Given that this is election season, they did so with less posturing than one might expect. The sense in the end was that the city wants the Mill Center to be built, and if losing the old mill is the price for it, then, OK, off it goes.

You gotta break some eggs to make an omelet and it's egg-breaking time at the corner of Grove and Fifth.

The overriding question, for the City Council, and also for Downtown Hendersonville Inc., county commissioners and the arts community, is this: Do we want a performing arts center? If the answer is yes, then we all ought to get behind this plan.

Other ideas hold some appeal.

A Blue Ridge Community College location, as some have suggested, would have come with parking and traffic flow, and the added benefit of being eligible for state grants. We look with envy at the new $30 million Fine & Performing Arts Center at Western Carolina University, though we do not covet the awkwardly worded name (FAPAC?).

On the downside, BRCC is the sprawl option. Having extracted state funding for the Thomas Auditorium, we probably can't go back to the well for a do-over. Besides, the BRCC option is not on the table.

The Grove Street location has synergy on its side. It would draw hundreds of people downtown, benefiting Main Street restaurants, ice cream parlors and shops. It's a bookend to the Historic Courthouse. And it is, we are told, the catalyst for a rebirth of the northeastern quadrant of the city, an area once alive with commerce stimulated by the disgorging of passengers from the Seventh Avenue train station.

What the Mill Center lacks is an inspiring public advocate.

Interestingly, among the candidates for mayor, newcomer Greg Newman was bolder in his support of the Mill Center than council members Ron Stephens and Mary Jo Padgett. Newman, quick to point out that his grandmother worked in the mill, has unequivocally endorsed the project. City voters evidently did not consider his support a disqualification. He won the primary.

Perhaps Newman, should he become mayor, would turn out to be that advocate.

<p>In a meeting last week, the Hendersonville City Council heard from the executive director and chairwoman of the Mill Center for the Arts and from the architect who designed the proposed structure.</p><!-- Nothing to do. The paragraph has already been output --><p>The council received a brief history of how we reached this point, that is, near the launch of a $22 million capital campaign. Construction would begin in early 2007.</p><p>Construction, the council was told, must begin with demolition. Brian Healy, the Boston architect chosen in a juried national competition, told the council members that no matter how many times he studied the old Grey Hosiery Mill, he could figure no way, without extravagant spending, to transform it into a performing arts auditorium, art gallery or children's museum.</p><p>With regret, the council members said that, yes, they would allow the Mill Center to raze the old mill. (All but Barbara Volk were present.) Given that this is election season, they did so with less posturing than one might expect. The sense in the end was that the city wants the Mill Center to be built, and if losing the old mill is the price for it, then, OK, off it goes.</p><p>You gotta break some eggs to make an omelet and it's egg-breaking time at the corner of Grove and Fifth.</p><p>The overriding question, for the City Council, and also for Downtown Hendersonville Inc., county commissioners and the arts community, is this: Do we want a performing arts center? If the answer is yes, then we all ought to get behind this plan.</p><p>Other ideas hold some appeal.</p><p>A Blue Ridge Community College location, as some have suggested, would have come with parking and traffic flow, and the added benefit of being eligible for state grants. We look with envy at the new $30 million Fine & Performing Arts Center at Western Carolina University, though we do not covet the awkwardly worded name (FAPAC?).</p><p>On the downside, BRCC is the sprawl option. Having extracted state funding for the Thomas Auditorium, we probably can't go back to the well for a do-over. Besides, the BRCC option is not on the table.</p><p>The Grove Street location has synergy on its side. It would draw hundreds of people downtown, benefiting Main Street restaurants, ice cream parlors and shops. It's a bookend to the Historic Courthouse. And it is, we are told, the catalyst for a rebirth of the northeastern quadrant of the city, an area once alive with commerce stimulated by the disgorging of passengers from the Seventh Avenue train station.</p><p>What the Mill Center lacks is an inspiring public advocate.</p><p>Interestingly, among the candidates for mayor, newcomer Greg Newman was bolder in his support of the Mill Center than council members Ron Stephens and Mary Jo Padgett. Newman, quick to point out that his grandmother worked in the mill, has unequivocally endorsed the project. City voters evidently did not consider his support a disqualification. He won the primary.</p><p>Perhaps Newman, should he become mayor, would turn out to be that advocate.</p>